Welcome to Coffeetime. Please introduce yourself and tell us about your coffee journey too.

I'm a long-term drinker of filter coffee that's relatively recently moved into expresso, or more accurately, espresso-based drinks, and this seemed like a good place to chat and learn.

Welcome to our fledgling forum. You will find a wealth of knowledge available here.

I'm a jaded user of another forum, that needed a change 😆

Up until recently I was only marginally aware that there were people on the internet who chatted about coffee stuff all the time. I'm now over two and a half grand down and it's all your fault. 😅

@"dfk41"#4 grabbed me by neck and brought me here! 😂 Thx guys! Feel at home!

I'm not saying I'm paranoid or anything, but a few weeks ago I walked into a coffee forum, pulled up a chair and sat down; everyone else seemed to get up and walk out! 😆 My coffee journey started over 40 years ago when my wife bought me a Gran Gaggia for Christmas. That was before the internet was invented, so there was no information freely available about the need for a grinder. I made a mess and a lot of terrible coffee. I got into stove top coffee makers through a Romanian student I befriended, we drank a lot of good coffee together before he moved on. My wife decided we should buy an induction hob, so that put an end to my stove top coffee making and I switched to french press. After breaking the glass of my favourite press I decided to try one of those gimmicky Aeropress thingies; that was a real eye-opener for me and started to buy speciality coffee beans and a Baratza Encore. A couple of years ago I retired and started volunteering in a charity shop where I saw a La Pavoni Europiccola. Nobody seemed to know what it was, so I got it at a very agreeable price. I invested in a Eureka Mignon Specialita to feed the LP and have become obsessed with the coffee making process.

@"LMSC"#p138 It is our home now….

On the other forum too(BadBoyR), don't participate much, just been busy reading posts/reviews on a new dual boiler machine. Currently have a bean to cup, but would like a more manual machine, mainly drinking milky coffees or a small shot if doing some cardio fasted. Looking at the sage dual boiler, lelit elizabeth and ACS minima.....so undecided, but want to future proof myself for being able to control flow later as gain better experience.

Got funny looks when I first got my aeropress, bringing it to work etc. decided to try make better coffee about a year ago, started the research. My girlfriend complained(?!) she didn’t see me for a few weeks as I was stuck online researching this thing. Stumbled across this gang (in their/your former space), which made it so much easier to confidently choose an espresso machine and then help when it arrived not working correctly!! Thanks to all again and Dave your stated principles of this forum are so great in these times, must be applauded, cheers for such dedication. It would have been a much much more difficult journey to getting it half right without the help of you guys

Was on “the other coffee forum”, but thought I’d hop over and join you all here. I’ve liked coffee for a long time, with a progression through french press, moka pot, aeropress and Nespresso. I’ve now settled on v60 for filter and since Dec last year I’ve started making real espresso with a Rancilio Silvia coupled with a Niche Zero. I enjoy tinkering, so I fitted a PID almost straight away, and for Christmas I’ve got an Ito board coming so that I can play with pressure profiling (a bit like a decent on the cheap). While a single boiler might not be for everyone, I’m the only person in the house who drinks coffee, so it’s perfect for one. Easy to maintain and less energy use as I’m only heating one small boiler. It’s a bit slow when we have guests, but I can live with that.

New Members Introduce Yourself

DavecUK

nufc1 I’ve seen the Vesuvius but unfortunately it does not pass the aesthetics test… great price for someone though

It’s a pity, because it’s incredible value for what it is.

dfk41

I wish I understood the relationships between aesthetics and coffee! I can imagine the comment, ’wow, that coffee tastes really shite but it is ok as it is made on a……………..(please insert your own!)

Cuprajake

swmbo

nufc1

Yeah, it’s an expensive hobby that takes a decent amount of kitchen space and nobody else in the household really benefits… there has to be a little compromise 😂 plenty of machines out there which are deemed ‘acceptable’

condy01

Hi all, been a member for a while but not really used the forum. Just thought I’d come back to enjoy the coffee chat and possibly explore an upgrade from the Bezzera Unica PID I currently own. Possibly looking at a “budget” DB so need to find suitable suggestions. Lelit Elizabeth seems like a great option… but open to further suggestions. Budget would be around that level, so under £1500 and would also need to sell the Bezzera. This all seems like a bit hard work atm so probably will give up and keep what I’ve got after probably spending months of research. Such is the life of a coffee lover!

Abcan

condy01 hello. I second the Minima. I’ve had mine for two weeks and it suits me perfectly. Ordering direct from ACS is easy. If you look at the ACS Minima thread, I’ve put what a black one cost in one of my posts.

dimoutsa

Hey there @condy01 ! Pretty much in a similar situation myself. After having an ECM Mechanika Profi IV for a few years now I decided to move to a DB. The short list was Lelit Elizabeth, ACS Minima and if I could splurge a bit, treat myself to a Lelit Bianca. I’ve ended up ordering the Minima in the end as I wasn’t very keen on the Elizabeth looks and the Bianca is quite a bit more money, so my other half would probably veto it hahhah. Haven’t received it yet so still going by what I’ve read about it!

condy01

Thanks both, lots of things to consider but ACS seems like a nice option. Not quite sold on the aesthetics but I wouldn’t rule it out just for that. I don’t know why, but I do always get drawn towards the Sage DB as it’s got so many features and for the money it’s hard to look past. But then on the other hand, I’m just not sold on buying something more aimed at the consumer market.

DavecUK

condy01 There are, or were issues around parts and repair for Sage machines.

condy01

DavecUK yeah that’s what I’d heard and I’m sceptical as to how long they last compared to either an e61 or something that looks a bit more solidly built.

ST30B

nufc1 not sure if you wanted a HX but the mara X is quite different. I love mine. One on eBay still under warranty with BB.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/256213898357?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=GzBIS9CURe-&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=meAf378_RQm&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

condy01

ST30B Thanks ST. I’d consider it but then I would probably rather spend a little bit more to get a DB with some features that the Mara X won’t have. I do like the look of the Lelit Elizabeth but cannot seem to find any in stock atm.

Cuprajake

yeah the stock has gone and app bb are not bringing it back in which is a shame

big jump up after that to a dual boiler

condy01

Cuprajake ah, yeah that’s annoying. Will look at other options then. I’m not in a rush.

MediumRoastSteam

Cuprajake - there are lots of items out of stock at Bella Barista - MaraX, Elizabeth, Black Bianca and many others.

I am wondering whether they are rethinking - and reducing - their options of stock items.

condy01

MediumRoastSteam everywhere I look all I see is places selling Sage 🤷🏻‍♂️

ST30B

MediumRoastSteam
They did a hard sell on the Profitec 400 when I asked about MaraX restock earlier in the year. It’s never been back in stock since.

Abcan

Hi all. I was in the same position at @condy01 a few months ago. I spoke with BB and they said they don’t think they’ll restock the Elizabeth as the price point would be too high if they did. It’s a shame.

Cuprajake

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/285470149396?hash=item427758cb14%3Ag%3AiJ4AAOSwN0dlADlO&amdata=enc%3AAQAIAAAA4BrTKRGRrGpxWs8XiQxAQLxgg97MwTZeztAJkg%2FsL3QZEtTZg7hCHPcDq4nfauRda2Cq3eU3%2Bi2gDHTxA07zYZJnMS2QSENROjuFuL2F3WYHWWoQ1nga5hlXKjyX%2FfZGYKn0YDOoLZ1IiYx7hi1Pvl%2Balzr3OBXrKp4wEVv%2FfJYuRwsaj8g2BHantgp%2BbwlJrVnCdcJTbrVC7y6NPsUGQfT90t%2BBA23rTivX6xvtiBjNYCA7ZODszqZrEEkfi%2B557r8aTULHxsx9GPkaIEZWfh5udoQhpfWX1OoOdOZI42pC%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR5rezOXRYg&LH_ItemCondition=4

Abcan

Cuprajake that looks good! I really think these look better in the flesh than they do in photos. Where are you based @condy01?

Cuprajake

minima

MediumRoastSteam

ST30B They did a hard sell on the Profitec 400 when I asked about MaraX restock earlier in the year

The Pro-400 is nothing like the MaraX. The former a dumb HX machine with a switch where you can choose 3 temp settings… the latter a clever machine which tries to regulate the brew temperature by means monitoring the temperature in the HX and adjusting the pressure in the service boiler accordingly.

The closet machine you have to the MaraX is the ECM Mechanika Max - but that’s significantly more expensive than the MaraX.

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